The new Data Domain DD880 inline deduplication storage system boasts aggregate throughput of as much as 5.4 TB/hour, single-stream throughput up to 1.2 TB/hour, and supports as much as 71TB of usable capacity, a big jump over the company's previous high-end model, the DD690. A fully configured DDX array with 16 DD880 controllers could process backup and archive data at 86 TB/hour and support 56 petabytes of logical capacity.

Also today, EMC announced that it now controls 82.1 percent of Data Domain shares and expects to close the merger by the end of the month. Data Domain CEO Frank Slootman will head a new division within EMC focused on next-generation disk-based backup, recovery and archive solutions. EMC said it expects the new division to reach $1 billion in sales next year, triple Data Domain's current revenues.

Data Domain's CPU-centric approach allows it to grow performance roughly in line with the growth in Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) processor speeds, rather than boosting performance by adding drives or increasing drive speeds. As part of its briefings on the new offering, Data Domain released data showing that the DD880 performs inline deduplication faster than inline or post-processing dedupe solutions from the likes of NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP), Quantum (NYSE: QTM), Sun (NASDAQ: JAVA), HP (NYSE: HPQ) and IBM (NYSE: IBM).

Enterprise Strategy Group senior analyst Brian Babineau said the DD880 "clearly proves that inline deduplication can be highly competitive in speed, even when compared to VTLs and other disk-based backup targets with no deduplication at all."

"It used to be that VTLs running at top speed could go faster without dedupe, storing straight to disk," stated Brian Biles, vice president of product management at Data Domain. "This was one of the last defensible arguments for considering a post-process dedupe system architecture. That is so over. The DD880 doesn't just change the game; it pulls the rug out from under the post-process argument."

With Data Domain's replication option, a single DD880 system can support replication fan-in from up to 180 remote offices using smaller Data Domain systems such as the DD120.

Quantum Dedupes VMware

Quantum, an EMC dedupe partner whose status appears uncertain in the wake of the Data Domain acquisition, also added to its dedupe story today with new support for VMware (NYSE: VMW) environments.

The new Quantum esXpress software module optimizes Quantum's DXi series disk backup and replication systems to back up and restore VMware ESX virtual servers. The combination of esXpress and DXi systems eliminate the need for physical servers to initiate a backup job and move data.

esXpress Professional  for use on one VMware ESX server with support for up to four Virtual Backup Appliances (VBAs)  is included with new DXi systems at no cost. Additional esXpress Professional licenses cost $950, while the 16-VBA esXpress Enterprise costs $1,850.